PHOTO: FILE
RAWALPINDI: Three floors of the aged building of Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) have finally been rented out.
A number of advertisements had been given in the newspapers at different times, however, RMC could not find a tenant to rent out the whole building.
The auction committee has accepted the bid of Sultan Mehmood Satti for renting the basement in Rs565,000, ground floor for Rs605,000 and first floor for Rs480,000 per month for a private educational institution.
However, the committee has rejected the offers of Rs344,000 and Rs500,623 for renting out second and third floors respectively.
The committee will again carry out auction process for auctioning these respective floors.
The auction process was completed by Assistant Tax Superintended Muhammad Azad on the directions of Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation Mayor Sardar Naseem Khan.
During the tenure of late mayor Agha Abdul Rashed Jilani in 1990, it was decided to shift the office from the worn-out building at Saddar City Road to a new five storey building opposite to the Gordon College. In this regard, around Rs60 million loan was taken from Punjab local government which is however still unpaid.
Later, this building was not utilised and the RMC office was shifted to a new building which was constructed close to this building while a hall, adjacent to the new building, was also built for conducting municipal assembly sessions. The hall was never utilised for conducting assembly meetings while it has now turned into ruins. However, the sessions are now are conducted in Jinnah Hall located at the second floor of the rented building.
Shelter home facing difficulties
The first shelter home of Rawalpindi is facing difficulties in provision of food to the shelter seekers owing to the shortage of donations. The shelter home which is located in the basement of parking plaza of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Imran Khan.
At a time, some 125 people could receive bedding here while the meals, in morning and night, are provided to the visitors with the help of donations. Apart from the living area, the shelter home has a kitchen and a long carpet is used as a tablecloth for serving food while there is a separate table for the aged visitors.
Further, the flow of shelter seekers is decreasing with the time while the breakfast has been limited to 30 persons. The in-charge of shelter home, Dilshad Ali , told that they were facing a decrease in donations. However, up to 80 people fill their appetites here at dinner here ever night.
The shelter room is properly cleaned every morning soon after the people leave for doing their daily businesses. Every visitor gets new mattress whereas the visitors have been directed to fold their mattresses before leaving.
As people keep coming periodically, the registration process continues throughout the day.
Furthermore, there is a special team which is responsible for shifting the visitors to the district and headquarters hospital In case of any emergency.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2019.
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